Elsewhere in Palmdale, a city in northern Los Angeles, residents were being startled by similar rocket attacks.
A Grumman F6F Hellcat drone.
Despite being unmanned and unarmed, it was the drone which was winning.
Like other target drones, it was operated remotely via radio control.
Shortly after take off, the controllers realized that the drone was not responding to commands.. What followed next was an embarrassing display of marksmanship.
An F89-D Scorpion aircraft.
The aircraft was circling northeast of Los Angeles.
The crews of the Scorpions saw their chance and prepared to fire.
However, when they pressed the fire button, nothing happened.
However, this presented a significant challenge.
Each F-89D Scorpions carried 104 rockets, but they could only be fired in salvos.
In reality, all they needed was a single hit.
But in 1956, American dog fighting skills were a little lacking.
The two jets fired a total of 208 rockets.
Not a single one found its mark.
An F-89D Scorpion aircraft firing Mighty Mouse Rockets.
The largest blaze occurred in Soledad Canyon, west of Mt.
By the time the fire was finally brought under control, some 350 acres had been destroyed.
Moments later, a rocket fragment tore through the bed and windshield of their parked truck, obliterating it.
Miraculously, no one was injured.
The drone finally ran out of fuel and crashed on a desert tract eight miles east of Palmdale Airport.
More than a dozen unexploded rockets were discovered scattered between Santa Clarita and Palmdale.
It was another glaring example of how the Air Forces heavy reliance on cutting-edge technology had backfired spectacularly.
